As the international community pays more and more attention to the problems of soil pollution, fertility loss, and addressing climate change, improving soil and protecting our ecological environment has become a concerted global action. Thus, biochar (biomass charcoal) become a good choice as its applications in agriculture and environment management. In this page, we will address biochar uses in agriculture and farming as well as Beston biochar solution in details.
Application and Use of Biochar in Agriculture
Biochar is a carbon negative, charcoal based, soil amendment that can be designed to help reclaim and improve marginal soils by increasing soil water holding capacity and enhancing fertility, while also generating high-value renewable energy co-products during its production.
Biochar can significantly increase soil pH, change soil texture, and increase base exchange capacity, thereby causing soil CEC to increase. It affects the absorption of nutrients by plants and improves soil organic matter. On the one hand, biochar can adsorb soil organic molecules and promote the polymerization of small organic molecules to form SOM through surface catalytic activity; on the other hand, the extremely slow decomposition of biochar itself is conducive to the formation of humus and promotes the improvement of soil fertility through long-term action. Biochar can also change the form of toxic elements, reduce pollution during plant growth, promote the uptake of nutrient elements, and promote plant growth.
Benefits of Biochar Application in Agriculture
Better Water Retention
If you look at biochar under an electron microscope, you can see an extraordinary moonscape of holes upon holes. What’s this mean? Biochar is an amazing sponge that will hold (absorb) huge amounts of water. All those little holes also provide very convenient condos for soil microbes – better water retention.
Healthier Soil / Lower Acidity – pH of 8
The plants’ soil that has a nice, neutral pH of say 6.5 to 7, but most soils in the developing world are acid to very acid – 4 to 5.5. In the acidic soils, most plants can’t take up nutrients, even if they are present in the soil. However, stick some biochar in this soil, and you can push the pH as much as a whole point higher. As the pH rises, more and more nutrients become available to crops.
Stronger Plants
Stick a bit of pure carbon biochar in the soil and six months later, and it is covered with scales of calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, and sulphur. It’s become a little mineral ball. Sprinkle fertilizer on the soil and instead of seeing 50% of it leach away with the rain, that fertilizer will glom onto the biochar, providing long-lasting, slow-release nutrition. Stick biochar in a heavy metal contaminated field and soon the cadmium, lead or mercury are chemically bound to it (adsorbed) where plants can no longer take them up and water can no longer wash them away.
Higher Yield / Higher Fertility
The biochar (charcoal from biomass) can effectively improve soil moisture retention, aggregate stability, pH, cation exchangeable capacity (CEC), nutrient retention, microbial growth and enzymatic activities. The biochar has been observed in several studies that biochar application improves soil fertility and thus increases crop yields on agricultural lands. Therefore, the use of biochar produced from different organic residues (including different biomass materials) is an effective approach for long-term improvement of soil fertility and crop productivity.
Importance of Biochar Use in Agriculture and Farming
By using biochar in agriculture and farming, it not only effectively solves the current problem of agricultural and forestry waste pollution, but also plays a great role in improving soil and improving soil fertility, and makes great contributions to agriculture.
- Soil fertility: biochar can improve soil fertility, stimulating plant growth, which then consumes more CO2 in a positive feedback effect;
- Reduced fertilizer inputs: biochar can reduce the need for chemical fertilizers, resulting in reduced emissions of greenhouse gases from fertilizer manufacture;
- Reduced N2O and CH4 emissions: biochar can reduce emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4), two potent greenhouse gases from agricultural soils;
- Enhanced soil microbial life: biochar can increase soil microbial life, resulting in more carbon storage in soil;
- Energy generation: the heat energy and also the bio oils and synthesis gases generated during biochar production can be used to displace carbon positive energy from fossil fuels.
Beston Biochar Solution Use in Agriculture and Farming
Beston Group has adopted the carbonization method of double drum and double fire zone to obtain biochar, tar, wood vinegar and combustible gas by carbonizing waste biomass, such as straw, rice husk, peanut husk, and palm silk through high temperature dry distillation. The generated biochar can be widely applied in agriculture and farming.
Benefits of Beston Biochar Solution
- Internet of things control(IOT)can realize remote monitoring and data collection;
- Fully continuous work, large processing capacity, high production efficiency;
- A variety of temperature/pressure detection and alarm systems, safe production is guaranteed;
- Beston biochar production equipment can meet the requirements for different carbonization temperatures of biomass and improve the quality of biochar.
If you want to learn more about biochar uses in agriculture and farming, or are planning produce biochar to apply in agriculture, please contact us for the most suitable, practical and profitable biochar solution here.